A lot of people think of a vegan diet as an expensive one, but it can be really cost-effective if you know what to stock your cupboards with!
It's always good to have a store of food that you constantly have in your kitchen so that you know that you can always make a meal in a pinch, even if it means that you make a relatively boring meal. Anything you buy after that makes your food more varied and interesting, but the store keeps everything stable. And stability makes it easier to keep costs down.
In our opinion it is better to buy one thing in bulk when you can, than to need everything in bulk at once. Stock up on one thing that will last a long time and it will create room to stock up on something else. Salt is a good place to start.
In this article I'll lay out some basics to keep stocked in your cupboard and what they're useful for as well as some handy links to reasonably priced store cupboard staples.
This list is open to growing and changing, so if you have any suggestions please let me know!
The Very Basics
Flour - To me, flour is one of the very basics. It's such a versatile ingredient, and my partner and I have survived whole no-money weeks on almost nothing more than flour and water alone.
Bicarbonate of Soda - Again, another basic-basic-basic ingredient that is so cheap and so shelf stable that's not worth it to not have it. You can even use it to clean your house and reduce the costs of cleaning supplies!
Salt - Really cheap and valuable for helping make any food taste better, as well as preserving food and using for cleaning! I always find it better to buy nicer salt in bulk when I can rather than cheaper salt in small containers. It'll last much longer and is absolutely worth it.
Shelf Stable Proteins
Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans - An incredibly versatile ingredient that can be useful for a really satisfying sandwich filling (of which there are so few vegan ones!). Bought dried these can last almost forever and with a little bit of forethought make meals so cheap.
Dried beans - While eating beans every day can make you feel dirt poor, a handy stock of beans can almost always make a meal which can stop you being dirt poor.
Lentils - These little guys come in a variety of colours, from green lentils, yellow split peas, to red lentils. They're great pods of protein that pack a nutritional punch, are dirt cheap and insanely flexible.
Peanut butter - PEANUT BUTTER SAVES SO MANY MEALS - If you haven't been saved by peanut butter yet, then you're not living. My personal favourite thing to do is to add it to baked beans, or make a satay, or have a little scoop when my concentration is starting to dip. I just love it so much and it's so much cheaper when you buy in the larger tubs. A good thing is that it's also quite affordable to keep a smaller jar at all times if you struggle to be able to buy it in bulk.
Meal Makers
Canned tomatoes - A staple in our household. Canned tomatoes can be flavoured in so many different ways, from curries, to Moroccan, to casseroles that it's so worth always having at least a few cans in the cupboard. They effectively last forever, so it's something that's very worth buying in bulk once or twice a year if possible.
Baked beans - Outside of the UK these poor little beans seem to be controversial. However, I highly recommend these as an easy 5-minute vegan meal that is shelf stable for longer than you can reasonably need them for.
Coconut milk - In our household we tend to keep coconut milk as our little taste of luxury. It's really useful in curries or a tagine, and adds a creaminess to smoothies. The fat that sits at the top of most cans can be used as whipping cream for desserts if you're feeling a pain in your sweet tooth.
Nutrition/Flavour Boosters
Nutritional yeast - We use a lot of this in our household. It adds a little "oomph" to so many meals and makes a great "cheese" sauce.
Chia seeds - These are a really great source of fibre. They can be used to make chia seed porridge or put into/onto other meals to add a little bit of extra nutrition and make meals look pretty. Generally you'll use a teaspoon or two per person for porridge, and if you're just using it to sprinkle then a regular bag you'll find at a supermarket for a few pounds/dollars will go a very long way. We use it for sprinkling on almost every meal, in smoothies and in every dough I make, and I've had the same bag for at least 6 months.
Garlic/Onion powder - If you're eating food with a lot less fat then you're omitting a major carrier of flavour in your food. So you need to concentrate on how you're flavouring your food to make it equally satisfying. Garlic powder really helps with this (especially when you use it in conjunction with raw garlic too!) and is pretty cheap and shelf stable. Definitely an essential in our house.
Black pepper - I'll use black pepper in almost everything I make to add a little extra kick without the capsaicin heat. It's also interesting in sweet food. If you're going to invest in any peppercorns, then I'd recommend getting a good grinder and buying the whole corns in bulk. Needless processing just adds to the price, and having freshly cracked corns keeps the oils in your food, rather than on packaging or evaporating.
Chilli - For the same reasons as garlic powder, Chilli helps make up for the potential loss of flavour and adds a tonne of nutrition to food. If you're not a fan of spice, then you can always put not enough in to be able to taste but still get the kick of flavour and nutrition. When you eat capsaicin, your tongue thinks that your food is saltier than it is, and therefore a lot more flavourful. This is why a lot of people love spicy food.
Black salt - This is a curious little store cupboard item that will go a long way. Its sulphurous flavour can be used to make things "eggy", like in a vegan omelette or in scrambled tofu. I'd definitely recommend giving it a go.
Canned Goods
Canned beans - I try and keep at least 3 different types of canned beans in my cupboards so that I've always got a choice for different meals. If you're on a low budget you can avoid buying in bulk, although I would still recommend doing so if you can as you may go through a small supply quite quickly. If you are looking to buy in bulk, I'd recommend butter beans, kidney beans and black beans to maximise the versatility. If you want to go even lower budget, then it's a lot cheaper to buy beans dried and rehydrate them yourself if you can remember to do it beforehand.
Canned fruit - If you're on a lower budget, then a good tip is to have some cans of fruit in your cupboard. You can easily add these to some home made yogurt for a cheap, quick and nutritious dessert. They're shelf stable for longer than you'll ever take to use them, and if you're someone who doesn't mind eating food past its sell by date then you'll quite often find them in reduced sections of supermarkets or corner shops. That's where I get all of mine from.
It's always good to have a store of food that you constantly have in your kitchen so that you know that you can always make a meal in a pinch, even if it means that you make a relatively boring meal. Anything you buy after that makes your food more varied and interesting, but the store keeps everything stable. And stability makes it easier to keep costs down.
In our opinion it is better to buy one thing in bulk when you can, than to need everything in bulk at once. Stock up on one thing that will last a long time and it will create room to stock up on something else. Salt is a good place to start.
In this article I'll lay out some basics to keep stocked in your cupboard and what they're useful for as well as some handy links to reasonably priced store cupboard staples.
This list is open to growing and changing, so if you have any suggestions please let me know!
The Very Basics
Flour - To me, flour is one of the very basics. It's such a versatile ingredient, and my partner and I have survived whole no-money weeks on almost nothing more than flour and water alone.
Bicarbonate of Soda - Again, another basic-basic-basic ingredient that is so cheap and so shelf stable that's not worth it to not have it. You can even use it to clean your house and reduce the costs of cleaning supplies!
Salt - Really cheap and valuable for helping make any food taste better, as well as preserving food and using for cleaning! I always find it better to buy nicer salt in bulk when I can rather than cheaper salt in small containers. It'll last much longer and is absolutely worth it.
Shelf Stable Proteins
Chickpeas/Garbanzo beans - An incredibly versatile ingredient that can be useful for a really satisfying sandwich filling (of which there are so few vegan ones!). Bought dried these can last almost forever and with a little bit of forethought make meals so cheap.
Dried beans - While eating beans every day can make you feel dirt poor, a handy stock of beans can almost always make a meal which can stop you being dirt poor.
Lentils - These little guys come in a variety of colours, from green lentils, yellow split peas, to red lentils. They're great pods of protein that pack a nutritional punch, are dirt cheap and insanely flexible.
Peanut butter - PEANUT BUTTER SAVES SO MANY MEALS - If you haven't been saved by peanut butter yet, then you're not living. My personal favourite thing to do is to add it to baked beans, or make a satay, or have a little scoop when my concentration is starting to dip. I just love it so much and it's so much cheaper when you buy in the larger tubs. A good thing is that it's also quite affordable to keep a smaller jar at all times if you struggle to be able to buy it in bulk.
Meal Makers
Canned tomatoes - A staple in our household. Canned tomatoes can be flavoured in so many different ways, from curries, to Moroccan, to casseroles that it's so worth always having at least a few cans in the cupboard. They effectively last forever, so it's something that's very worth buying in bulk once or twice a year if possible.
Baked beans - Outside of the UK these poor little beans seem to be controversial. However, I highly recommend these as an easy 5-minute vegan meal that is shelf stable for longer than you can reasonably need them for.
Coconut milk - In our household we tend to keep coconut milk as our little taste of luxury. It's really useful in curries or a tagine, and adds a creaminess to smoothies. The fat that sits at the top of most cans can be used as whipping cream for desserts if you're feeling a pain in your sweet tooth.
Nutrition/Flavour Boosters
Nutritional yeast - We use a lot of this in our household. It adds a little "oomph" to so many meals and makes a great "cheese" sauce.
Chia seeds - These are a really great source of fibre. They can be used to make chia seed porridge or put into/onto other meals to add a little bit of extra nutrition and make meals look pretty. Generally you'll use a teaspoon or two per person for porridge, and if you're just using it to sprinkle then a regular bag you'll find at a supermarket for a few pounds/dollars will go a very long way. We use it for sprinkling on almost every meal, in smoothies and in every dough I make, and I've had the same bag for at least 6 months.
Garlic/Onion powder - If you're eating food with a lot less fat then you're omitting a major carrier of flavour in your food. So you need to concentrate on how you're flavouring your food to make it equally satisfying. Garlic powder really helps with this (especially when you use it in conjunction with raw garlic too!) and is pretty cheap and shelf stable. Definitely an essential in our house.
Black pepper - I'll use black pepper in almost everything I make to add a little extra kick without the capsaicin heat. It's also interesting in sweet food. If you're going to invest in any peppercorns, then I'd recommend getting a good grinder and buying the whole corns in bulk. Needless processing just adds to the price, and having freshly cracked corns keeps the oils in your food, rather than on packaging or evaporating.
Chilli - For the same reasons as garlic powder, Chilli helps make up for the potential loss of flavour and adds a tonne of nutrition to food. If you're not a fan of spice, then you can always put not enough in to be able to taste but still get the kick of flavour and nutrition. When you eat capsaicin, your tongue thinks that your food is saltier than it is, and therefore a lot more flavourful. This is why a lot of people love spicy food.
Black salt - This is a curious little store cupboard item that will go a long way. Its sulphurous flavour can be used to make things "eggy", like in a vegan omelette or in scrambled tofu. I'd definitely recommend giving it a go.
Canned Goods
Canned beans - I try and keep at least 3 different types of canned beans in my cupboards so that I've always got a choice for different meals. If you're on a low budget you can avoid buying in bulk, although I would still recommend doing so if you can as you may go through a small supply quite quickly. If you are looking to buy in bulk, I'd recommend butter beans, kidney beans and black beans to maximise the versatility. If you want to go even lower budget, then it's a lot cheaper to buy beans dried and rehydrate them yourself if you can remember to do it beforehand.
Canned fruit - If you're on a lower budget, then a good tip is to have some cans of fruit in your cupboard. You can easily add these to some home made yogurt for a cheap, quick and nutritious dessert. They're shelf stable for longer than you'll ever take to use them, and if you're someone who doesn't mind eating food past its sell by date then you'll quite often find them in reduced sections of supermarkets or corner shops. That's where I get all of mine from.
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